Baked aromas of raisin and prune announce a hot-vintage wine that's over the edge. A stewy ,syrupy palate is tannic but lacking in textural balance. Toasty raisiny black-fruit flavors stick to prune and raisin on an overripe finish.\n \n Producer Information\n Familia Fernández Rivera is a wine producer based in the Ribera del Duero region of Spain. It is best known for its Tinto Pesquera range of varietal red wines made from Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), which are spicy, dense and ageworthy. The company also owns Condado de Haza, another estate in Ribera del Duero. Dehesa La Granja (Castilla y León VT) and El Vinculo (La Mancha DO) complete the portfolio of properties. The estate was founded in 1972 before Ribera del Duero had come to prominence, by Alejandro Fernández (a former salesman of farm machinery) and his wife Esperanza. The purchase was financed by money from the sale of a patent. Pesquera de Duero was the home town of the couple; the estate lies on its outskirts. The first harvest was the 1975. The wine found immediate success, following in the footsteps of its neighbor Vega Sicilia, and forced the recognition of DO status for Ribera del Duero in 1982. It is now one of the foremost wineries in the country. The 200 hectares (500 acres) of mature vineyards are spread out along south-facing banks of the Duero river on a variety of soils, although these are mainly based on sandy, gravelly soil over limestone and clay. These vineyards are around 2000-2500ft (600-700m) above sea level, and have a continental climate with hot days and cool nights. Rather than cultivating bush vines, the plants are trained on low espalier trellises, to better capture ground heat. Pesquera was one of the first producers in the region to use wire training. Tinto Pesquera's wines are made in a converted 16th-Century stone building. A carefully considered mix of French and American barriques are used to age the wines – the Crianza for a minimum of 18 months, and the Reserva for up to three years. The Gran Reserva and Janus Gran Reserva are aged for 36-48 months before release. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.
